OPINION: Republican lawmakers are once again on a tear to kill Arizona’s wildly popular early voting program in order to end all that non-existent voter fraud. Genius idea. Do it and see what happens.
By Laurie Roberts | Arizona Republic
Henceforth and forevermore, Republicans would like all Arizona voters to stand in hours-long lines if they want to participa te in our elections. Won’t that be especially fun during those early August primaries when the temperature floats somewhere between gas-fired grill and the jaws of hell?
Instead of a literacy test, we’re going with a fitness test.
This genius idea is brought to us by none other than Rep. John Fillmore, the Apache Junction legislator who longs for a return to the days of “1958-style voting.”
Fortunately, House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, isn’t all that nostalgic about those good old days when literacy tests and poll taxes were used to keep certain people from having a vote. Bowers assigned Fillmore’s bill to enough committees that it never should have seen the light of day.
Enter Sen. Kelly Townsend. This Apache Junction Republican revived the proposal of her seatmate on Monday by attaching it to an already-passed House bill and hearing it in her Senate Government Committee, where it passed Monday on a party line vote.
